Lady Dogs start district against Lake View

RYAN BLAKE THURMAN

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, September 25, 2008

Herald Sports Editor

The Plainview Lady Dog volleyball team has finished its non-district schedule with a record of 10-17 and now heads into District 4-4A with a clean slate. The Lady Dogs get district play started with a road trip to San Angelo Lake View on Saturday. First serve is at 2:15 p.m.

"We're practicing well. Yeah, we lost our last game, but to a very good team (Canyon)," said Plainview coach Karla Henegar. "We've made improvements in coverage and talking . . . now we're moving on to the next step."

The "next step" for the Lady Dogs includes getting three hits on every volley, with every third hit being a spike, and serving more aggressively - using a variety of serves such as float serves and jump serves and placing the ball more accurately.

After Tuesday's match against Canyon, Henegar mentioned that her team has been giving up too many free balls.

Throughout non-district play, Plainview has taken several steps to improve.

Early in the season, the young Lady Dogs were focused on developing a cohesive unit and a rotation that they felt comfortable in. Next, the Lady Dogs worked on their offense and net play, specifically getting kills and playing faster.

"We've improved and we are still improving," said Henegar.

Heading to San Angelo, Henegar believes it is vital that Plainview defeat Lake View and get off to a positive start in district play.

"We have to beat Lake View. We have to take care of business," said Henegar. "Beating Lake View is our priority right now. I'm trying not to look past them. We know we have to start on a positive and go into district with some confidence.

"I know that they describe themselves as up and down. I guess they kind of use the words we have to describe themselves," said Henegar. "They have two separate teams. If the good one shows up they do awesome. The bad one shows up, they struggle, so it seems like it will be a good matchup."

Plainview and Lake View have similar non-district records, but Hengar believes the Lady Dogs are better prepared for district because of the difficulty of their non-district schedule.

"I think that we have played tougher teams than Lake View has," said Henegar. "We've played Hereford, Dalhart and Canyon, who I can't believe isn't ranked. I think that maybe even though our records are similar we've had some tougher opponents."

In the overall district picture, Henegar believes her team will be one of the top contenders.

"We know that Frenship is going to be a strong team. They have a great record and have only lost to teams that are ranked, so I expect them to be probably the top contender," said Henegar.

Frenship's biggest weapon is a 6-foot middle-hitter Bailey Jones. Frenship is currently 23-5.

Henegar thinks district newcomer Abilene Cooper also will be a tough opponent and another top contender in the district.

She pointed out that many of the teams in the district are in situations similar to the Lady Dogs because many of them lost senior leadership and spent non-district trying to develop inexperienced players.

"We're all new and pretty young teams. I think it will be an interesting year to see how things match up," Henegar said.

Through non-district, the Lady Dogs have been led in kills by Abby King and Kacy Richburg. Marisa Gamboa has been a force at the net and leads the team in blocks. Junior libero Ashley Welch paces Plainview in digs while younger sister Emily leads in assists.